Sports

Greed, jealousy creep into L.A.'s locker room

For Lakers guard Jordan Farmar, the quarrelling didn't stop on the floor. Farmar stated that the Lakers need to "share the wealth" when it comes to playing basketball.
(Tim Rasmussen, The Denver Post
)

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — During his three years in the NBA, Jordan Farmar admits there are some things about pro basketball — like trying to figure out the method and messages in the madness that is Lakers coach Phil Jackson — that have been hard to figure out.

But there are other things, whether in the NBA or in youth basketball, that should be much easier to decipher.

"We just have to play basketball — it should be so simple," Farmar said. "Everybody should just share the wealth. If we do that, then everybody has more opportunities to be successful, which means that the team will be more successful."

Apparently, on a team that is regarded as NBA royalty, the Lakers are discovering during the 2009 playoffs that some players are more regal than others — and also dealing with the problems that arise when hoi polloi strain to grab a piece of the throne.

After their 120-101 loss Monday to the Nuggets, many Los Angeles players intimated, like Farmar, that the team needs to be a bit more socialistic in its approach to the series. While using general terms like early shots and a lack of ball movement, no one has come out and specifically said where things are breaking down.

Looking strictly at numbers, one would be tempted to point a finger at Kobe Bryant. The king of all things Lakers, Bryant has set a league record with 147 points in the first four games of the series.

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In doing so, Bryant has taken 98 field-goal attempts; the next Los Angeles player on the list, Pau Gasol, has taken 40 shots.

Monday, Gasol was 8-of-11, scoring 21 points. Center Andrew Bynum made 6-of-7 en route to 14 points. However, Gasol only took four shots in the second half, one more than Bynum.

After the game, both players were clearly frustrated the Lakers didn't exploit their inside game more, but blaming Bryant almost seems laughable. For one thing, for much of the last couple of seasons, Bryant has been content to bide his time in establishing his offense, preferring to let his teammates try to get off to good starts.

And it has also been Bryant who, more often than not, has been forced to swoop to the rescue. Without his fourth-quarter contributions in Games 1 (18 points) and 3 (12), chances are instead of kvetching about their lot, the Lakers would be eliminated and enjoying a sunny day at the beach.

But whether, it's coach Jackson bemoaning the lack of production and decisions made by his point guards, or the veiled comments in the locker room, it's clear that not everyone on the team is on the same page.

Bryant argued Tuesday that such drama is part of the playoffs.

"When you win, you're great and when you lose, everything is horrible," he said after the team's practice.

But the Lakers have to find a way to ensure this series doesn't become an enduring nightmare.

"The thing to do is be together as one," Farmar said. "I have to share my minutes with Shannon (Brown, another reserve guard). As an individual, I might not like it, but we bring different things to the team, and if that's what's best for the team, then I have to be committed to that, and when he's in the game, I have to root for him just like he has to root for me when I'm playing."

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